Sturgis advertiser. (Sturgis, Dakota [S.D.]) 1887-1???, 1887-11-23
THE FARM.
TIMELY FACTS FOX FARMERS.

A Hint on Wintering Stock BENEFITS Of
Liquid Manure.
Shelter the Sheep. The shepherds
should not neglect their sheep at this
season, in the belief that they need no
protection until winter comes, for that
is great mistake. Sheep ought to
have shelter from the long cold autumn
rains. During these rains they get
soaked to the skin and suffer greatly
from the cold, and this tells on their
health and reduces their condition. It
is very convenient to have rude sheds
out in the field for the sheep to run
under at this season, to escape the rain,
and to save the trouble of driving them
to the stables. Careful fockmasters
will see that sheds or other protectors
are provided.
Improvement in Sheep. English
writer tells us that the original sheep
were much smaller in size than the inn
proved Dorsets, but neat, tolerably well
shaped and thickly woolled. They
we're hardly capable Of subsisting on
scanty pastures, and were Of remark
able fecundity and excellent nurses.
Within the last few years they have,
owing to the larger area of turnlps
grown in England and the use of cake
and corn, together with very careful
selection by eminent breeders, been
doubled in size, proof and weight of
wool.
LOOK TO THE bitches.
Many farmers are prone to neglect
making bitches where they are needed,
and some who have them fail to give
them proper attention. The open
bitches become clogged up and filled
with rubbish every little while, and
should be carefully cleaned out at least
twice a year-in the spring and again
in the fall. See that the matter is at
tended to this fall. 1t will not pay to
neglect this. and thus allow the drains
to fill up and force the water out over
the land to destroy crops, etc. "a
stitch in time" remember.
PROFITABLE FEEDING.
The feeding that pays best is that
which keeps the animal constantly
gaining. Some one has truly said that
every pound of feed consumed by an
animal that is not increasing in weight,
is SO much wasted. Keep the Things
growing from the time they are calved
till they are ready for the market. and
then every pound of feed brings some
tangible return. The more rapidly the
animal gains in weight the smaller the
proportion of food spent in sustaining
life, and therefore the greater the profit
to the feeder.
Planting Deciduous Trees.-All the
deciduous trees-those shedding their
foliage in Autumn-may be planted at
any time from the fall of the leaf until
the buds start again, when the ground
lis not frozen. Spring planting is gen.
orally preferred at. any time before the
swelling of the buds when the soil is in
good condition for working, unless a
ball of earth is to be TAKEN which lat
ter is necessary if the trees are large.
In this case it is quite usual to plant
out with the frozen ball intact. in
winter; but it is preferable to plant in
the spring, keeping the ball of earth
from beingzthawed by covering heavily
with litter while yet frozen solid. So
says, substantially, Farm, Field and
Stockman, and we endorse the senti-
ment.
Cellar Wintering of Bees. An OHIO
apiarist, Mr.. H. H. Huff, says that in
cellar wintering it is essential to keep
the bees very quiet, in perfectly dark
quarters, and that cellar connected
with the house, where vegetables and
other things are kept, will not do. A
cellar containing bees, he adds, should
never be visited except for the purpose
of examining into their condition. If
we expect to winter bees in the cellar,
we can let them remain in their sum.
mer stands until cool weather sets in,
at which time we have everything in
readiness. The cellar should be so ar
ranged that we can attend to the wants
of any colony that may need our atten-
ton. The hives should be SO arranged
that no adjusting of them is to be done
after removing them to the cellar.
Poultry Hints.--A fowl fancier SAYS
an important task is to pick out the
flock to be wintered. In selecting the
pen, give preference to the younger
stock. On no consideration is il advis-
able to winter rooster He is inva-
riably nuisance, a worriment to the
hens. and, like chained dog, becomes
ugly in close quarters. Before frost
closes the ground, fill several barrels
with fine road dust, that focks may m
joy a bath in mid-winter. Now is the
best time to do this, for very soon the
fall rains will turn the dust into mud.
Another dainty that the fowls enjoy is
sunfower seeds.
DON'T BURN STRAw.-Farmers who
burn straw s.miss it, and are poor
economists. There are go many useful
purposes for straw that the wise farmer
will scarcely need to have recoursa to